


Lost Track

by Sectanza



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Angst, Blindness, Chronic Illness, Phone Calls & Telephones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:59:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22075846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sectanza/pseuds/Sectanza
Summary: The morning after being told he'd no longer be able to work with the Squidbeak Splatoon, Agent 3 receives a call from DJ Hyperfresh and MC Princess. Once happy to get the chance at friendly conversation, he later asks a question he wasn't prepared to hear the answer to.
Relationships: Marina/Pearl (Splatoon)
Kudos: 14





	Lost Track

**Author's Note:**

> Previous work, for better context on this one: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17295359

Early in the morning, he was woken up by a familiar song.  
Begrudgingly, Darwin opened his eyes--only to promptly be reminded that it was pointless--and started fumbling his hand around on the hotel nightstand in search of his ringing phone. How long had it been since he last heard it go off? The Deep Sea Metro had no service, as most underground lairs don't, so not since before he took off to help Cap'n. He didn't even remember what his ringtone was before; not that it mattered much, though--whatever it was, Marina's old recording of Ebb & Flow was no doubt better. After a few snaps in rhythm with the song's old drum machine, Darwin finally slapped his hand down onto his phone, praying he actually managed to hit the 'answer' button as he raised it to his ear.

"Hello?"  
"Hi, Darwin," came Marina's voice over the speaker, soft and somber, like she was trying not to hurt his feelings just by saying his name.  
"Hey, try not to sound so depressed. I could really use less of that right now."  
"Right. Um..." She cleared her throat, and in a peppier voice, questioned, "so how has your morning been so far?"  
"Woke up to your call. Speaking of which, what's it for?"  
"Pearlie just wanted to check on you."  
A second voice, somewhere in the background of her side, chimed in, with a loud "hey!"  
He'd recognize Pearl's agitated voice anywhere. Darwin stifled a giggle: maybe today wouldn't be so bad.  
"Okay, okay--I wanted to talk to you too. I know yesterday wasn't all that great, Callie told me a bit about it when she called last night. How are you handling it?"  
"Oh, you know... poorly. I tried sleeping it off, but given those new issues, I wasn't really able to."  
He could hear the phone getting wrestled out of Marina's hands before Pearl's voice started screaming into it.  
"Hey, we think we know what happened with that!"  
"Alright then. Diagnose me, doctor Houzki."  
"I diagnose you with gunk!" Pearl answered in a confident tone, as if what she said made any sense, prior to Marina attempting to clarify with, "Tartar gunk, to be specific!"  
Darwin had to move the phone away from his face to laugh, only to quickly stop as a sharp pain shot through his abdomen, likely not too happy with the sudden movement. "Even laughing hurts... What do you guys mean by 'gunk?'"  
There was silence for a moment.  
"We ain't really think that part through," Pearl started, "we're just hypothetical-izing, or whatever 'Rina called it."  
"Hypothesizing, Pearlie," Marina corrected with a playfully exasperated sigh. "Tartar essentially tried to sanitize you, from what I gather, and our leading theory right now is that there's still some left over that's throwing your body through a loop."  
"Basically, there's some Tartar goo squirming around in you somewhere, and that's what's making you feel like shit. We think."  
Darwin wrinkled his nose in disgust at the description. "Thanks, I hate it! Cod, you're gonna make me vomit again."  
"Well, look on the bright side: at least it's some idea of what could be going on. Having an idea of the problem means we can come up with some plans on how to fix it!"  
"What's your fix-it plans then?"  
Another moment of silence.  
"We don't have any," Marina reluctantly answered, but quickly followed it up with, "but, we'll come up with some as soon as we can, promise!"  
"Eat some soup," Pearl quipped.  
"Soup?"  
"Helps me feel better when I'm sick. Even if it doesn't help, at least you'll have eaten some soup, right?"  
"You've got a weird way of looking at things... I like it. I'll make some when I get my lazy ass up."  
"Rest is good when you're sick too, though. I'll text Callie to make you some. Stay chillin', I'll be right back!"  
More silence passed as they waited for Pearl; Darwin could practically feel Marina's awkward, polite, half-smile through the phone. He thought back on his ringtone and the feeling of nostalgia it brought, and how much he missed getting calls from whatever boyfriend he was with that month.  
Eventually, Darwin spoke up.

"How long was I down there?"  
"Hm?"  
"In the Metro. How long did it take for us to reach the surface?"  
"Oh... Well, it's been a while. I don't really remember." Her phone shuffled, and she yelled out to her bandmate, "Pearlie, you wrote down when we first contacted Cuttlefish, right? Check your planner!"  
"Pearl has a planner?"  
"Yeah. She may be a bit of a goblin, but she still likes to be organized," Marina answered--she had that whimsical tone she usually took on when she talked about Pearl to other people--as she held the phone back up to her ear. "Wouldn't want to miss a gig because you didn't write the date down, right?"  
"Fair enough. Just seems like more of a you thing."  
He heard Pearl yell something, but couldn't quite tell what, before Marina responded with, "alright, let me check today's date."  
The quiet that ensued afterwards felt different from the previous ones. It made Darwin feel nervous this time. It was lasting too long to be anything but bad.  
"Well? How long has it been?"

The phone shuffled around as a small argument broke out between the two.  
"He asked you, you tell him!"  
"I can't. I can't! He's been having such a bad week, I don't..."  
"You've gotta tell him. He likes you more anyways."  
"Are you kidding? You're practically his best friend!"  
"Since when?"  
"Since now, so tell him!"  
"No, you do it!"  
"I won't! You do it!"

"Guys!" Darwin finally yelled, holding his phone aside as he started coughing, waiting for his fit to subside before he spoke again, "just tell me. It's not like I'm in any state to go down there and kill you for it or some shit."  
"Well, y'see..."  
"Darwin, you went to the metro in March of 4270."  
"And?"  
"Today is January 1st, 4273..."  
He'd never been very smart. It took the words and the dates a moment to register, and longer for him to finally do the math in his head. Darwin felt his hearts sink.  
"I was there for 3 years?"  
"Technically 2 years and 9 months! That's... kinda better, right?"


End file.
